What Fuels You?
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. —Philippians 4:8
Since the dawn of the automobile, vehicles have been fueled by a variety of energy sources. Steam, gasoline, diesel, hydrogen, and electricity have all been used over the past century to propel our vehicles. However, some of these fuel sources proved to be more effective than others, and thus are still commonly used today.
Although we tend to give little thought to the fuel that we put in our vehicle, it is absolutely crucial to the proper functioning of our vehicle. Running on bad or ineffective fuel can degrade the performance of our vehicle. The same is also true for our bodies and souls. Feed them junk, and watch as their performance degrades. Just as it would be unwise for an athlete to fuel their body with greasy fast-food, so too it is unwise for us to feed our souls with junk.
The apostle Paul instructs us to focus on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy. These are the things that we should fill up our souls with, because they will propel us through life far better than anything else we could fill up on. And just as important as it is to focus on things with those qualities, it is also important to turn our focus off of things that do not have those qualities. The world is happy to serve up a buffet of deception, drama, division, debauchery and anger. As a result, it is important that we use discernment when engaging with social media, TV, and the news.
Take a moment today to reflect on what things fuel your soul. How closely do those things align with the values Paul outlined in Philippians?
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious — the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. — Philippians 4:8 [The Message]
